A/N: I do not own Naruto.
Run. He's coming... He's getting closer.
It was a normal day for Sakura. She was doing her daily routines at the hospital. Checking up on patients, healing them, making sure they take their daily dose of medicine and so on. Actually today was supposed to be her day off but she had nothing to do, so she decided work at the hospital for a little. Tsunade would totally lecture her if she found out that her apprentice was working at the hospital on her day off, telling her it wasn't healthy to work everyday. She didn't care though, as a matter of fact she enjoyed working at the hospital. It keeps her mind off of things.
"Alright Hana-san. You're free to go, here are some pills for your headache. If your headache doesn't go away within the next two days, come to me immediately."
"Okay, Sakura-san. Thank you!"
"You're welcome! I'll be on my now."
She made her way out the patient's room and she notice a raven haired woman sitting on a chair. This woman didn't look pleased. 'Shit.' Sakura inwardly groaned. The raven haired woman spotted Sakura and match her way over to where she was.
"Sakura-san! How many times do Tsunade-sama and I have to tell you to NOT work on your day off?! You're so troublesome sometimes! You need to rest!"
"Shizune-san, I'm fine really! There wasn't anything to do anyways!"
"Fine my ass! You were at the hospital until three in the morning, yesterday! You need rest! It's called a 'day off' for a reason. Gosh, you're as stubborn as Tsunade-sama!"
"Alright, alright! It won't happen again."
"Good! Anyways, Tsunade-sama needs you. I'll takeover from here."
"Alright, thanks!"
Sakura walked up to the Hokage's office and entered. "Did you need something, Tsunade-shishou?"
Tsunade looked up and smiled at her apprentice. "Ah! Sakura, you have a mission."
Sakura looked around. Her team wasn't around. She gave a questioning look. "Ah... But shishou my team aren't here."
"Yes, I know. This will be an A-ranked solo mission. You will be collecting herbs in the Tea Country. The tea country has many herbs that we don't have. We need those herbs for medicines and antidotes. There are many different diseases going around and it seems like people are creating new poisons. It's best we be prepared just in case we come in contact with these health hazards. After that I need you to go to The Hidden Sand Village to receive a scroll from the Kazekage."
"Two missions in one?"
"Yeah. Think of it as a little vacation. It shouldn't be problem. The only obstacle you'll face would probably be bandits or some missing-nins, but I'm sure you can handle it. If you do come across anything life threatening contact me immediately... Summon a slug, it's easier that way. I'll send back up right away. Anyways, I've already notified the Daimyo and the Kazekage that you will be coming. You'll be leaving in the morning,"
"Hai, shishou!" She bowed and turned to leave.
"Sakura. Be careful."
The pinkette turned and smiled. "Don't worry. I will." She left the office.
Sakura walked through the busy streets of Konoha. 'Hm. Maybe I should stop by at the pharmacy. I'm running out if painkillers, bandages, and a few other things.' As she was making her way to the pharmacy she spotted Naruto, Sai and Kakashi at Ichiraku's. 'Not a surprise.' She walk in and greeted them.
"Oh! Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto waved.
"Hey Ugly." Sai smiled.
"Yo." Kakashi was reading is perverted book as usual.
"Hey you guys! What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much! Just eating ramen with Kakashi-sensei and Sai. Wanna join?"
"Nah... I have to go shopping and get ready."
"Get ready? Where are you going, Sakura-chan?"
"I have a mission. I have to go collect herbs from the Tea Country and then receive a scroll from the Kazekage."
"Oh, lucky! Who are you going with?"
"Myself. It's a solo mission."
Naruto frowned. Kakashi put down is book. "That's a lot of things of to do on one mission, Sakura. A lot of traveling, too. What is the rank of your mission?"
The rosette shrugged. "It's an A-ranked solo mission."
"And how long are you going to be gone?"
"Maybe week. Probably longer. "
"By yourself? I don't think that's even safe. Considering that the Akatsuki and other S-ranked criminals are roaming around."
"Don't worry you guys. I'll be fine! Look, I have to go now. See you guys, later!" Sakura walk out before anyone started complaining. They never thought that she could anything on her own. It was irritating. She got all the things she needed for her mission and started packing early. It was too much of a hassle doing it in the morning. After she was doing packing, she took a shower and laid herself onto her comfy bed. The rosette sighed.
"This is going to be a long trip."
When morning arrive, Sakura got up, got ready and headed out. She made her way toward the village's gates and noticed that their were a large group of people waiting. As she got closer, she saw that it was all her friends and their senseis, even Tsunade was there!
"You guys! What are you all doing here?"
"We came to wish you good luck on your mission!" Ten Ten answered.
"It's your first faraway solo mission! You better not screw it up, Forehead!"
"Beautiful is right, Ugly. Don't screw up."
"Oh my youthful blossom! I wish you the best of luck and how dare you you call her 'Ugly'! Her youth shines bright like the sun on a summer day!"
"Lee... Shut up with your youth talk. Good luck, Sakura. Your desiny-"
"Oh here we go again with the 'It's your destiny' talk..." Ten Ten rolled her eyes. Neji vein popped out.
"S-Sakura-san, w-we have something to give y-you." Hinata gave her a medium sized scroll. Sakura took it and looked inside. "A map?"
"Y-yeah, but it's not just a map. I-If you ever get lost, a-all you need to do is insert some c-chakra and it'll lead you to the s-safest and e-easiest route."
Shikamaru spoke up. "That's not all. It can also detect anyone that comes near you. It can show you hidden caves or other areas. Here, let me show you. Where are you heading first?" He asked. "To the Tea Country." Sakura replied. Shikamaru took the scroll and inserted his chakra in it. A yellow line appeared, it started from Konoha to the Tea Country and that wasn't all. There were dots all over the village.
"The yellow line is the safest route you take. If you get into any danger you can change to another route. See those small light blue dots here? They represent the civilians and the bigger dots around you are us. Some of the dots have different colors. Like Naruto for example, he's the red dot. It represents his chakra. So you can tell the difference from civilian and shinobi."
"Wow! That's amazing! Are you sure its okay for me to take this? I mean this is a pretty rare..."
"Don't worry about it. It would be troublesome if we lost one of our best medics."
"Thank you..." Sakura smiled.
"Sakura-san, I got you something as well." Shino walk up to her and placed something in her hand. She opened up her hand to see what it was... It was a ring! Sakura started to blush, everyone moved closer to see what he had given her, once they saw it, everyone's eyes went wide. All of the girls were blushing, the guys gave Shino a questioning look. Naruto and Lee, looked furious! Heck, even Kakashi-sensei looked a little pissed.
"S-Shino-kun! A ring?!" Hinata stuttered.
"Damn. I didn't know you even liked her!" Kiba said.
"Well, well Shino... I didn't know you had it in you." Kurenai chuckled.
Naruto went on a rampage. "What the hell, Shino! How dare you give that to Sakura-chan! You didn't even go on a date with her! Heck you hardly ever TALKED to her! I on the other hand..." Kakashi whacked him on the head before he could finish.
"I'd have to agree with Naruto for once." Kakashi sighed and then glared at Shino.
"NOOO! My youthful blossom!" Lee cried out.
"Damn, Forehead! You're already breaking hearts! You go girl!" Ino cheered.
Shino sweat dropped. "You guys, calm down. It's not a marriage ring... It's a special ring that can have people outside our clan control bugs. You can call any insect to assist you. Fireflies are pretty useful at night... Just wear the ring and they'll come to you."
"Wow Shino! Thank you so much! I'll take good care of it!"
"You're welcome. Take care."
Naruto ran up to his female teammate. "Sakura-chan! I wanted to give you this on your birthday but I thought now was best to give it to you now. Here! Turn around." She turned around and felt something wrap around her neck. When she looked down she saw that it was a necklace with a beautiful orange crystal gem. It looked like the one Tsunade gave him but different color.
"This is a chakra crystal. That crystal connects to my chakra, It lights up when I'm in battle or whenever I flare my chakra. Look! I got one of yours too!" Naruto show his necklace, the rosette saw the crystal gem that belonged to the first hokage, the one Tsunade had given him. There was another crystal next to it, it was a beautiful pale pink crystal gem.
"Wow... I-I don't know what to say..." The rosette stuttered.
Ino spoke up. "That's not all, Forehead! Here!" Ino gave her a smile box. Sakura opened it and saw a silver bracelet with small colorful gems decorating around it.
"Those are also chakra crystals, just shaped differently. Each color represents all of us. I'm the purple gem, Hinata-lavender, Lee-green, TenTen-red, Neji-brown, Kiba-deep grey, Shino-grey, Kakashi-white, Sai-black, Tsunade-yellow, Shikamaru-forest green, and Choji-deep red. We all have your chakra crystal as well!" Everyone held out a necklace with a pale pink crystal gem hanging of them, just like the one Naruto has. Sakura stared in awe.
"Whenever our gems flicker it means that we're saying 'hello' and you can flare your chakra a bit so we see it. It shows us that you're doing okay!" Sakura fought the tears that were threatening to fall.
"Don't cry just yet." Kiba and Kakashi came up to the rosette. They gave her something that was soft and furry. It was a stuffed animal, a husky to be exact. Her eyebrow rose. " A stuffed husky...?"
Kiba snickered. Kakashi chuckled. "You might get a little lonely. Who knows... Something might surprise you." Sakura gave them a suspicious look but decided to let it slide.
"Sakura, come here." Tsunade spoke. She made her way towards her shishou. Tsunade handed her a small scroll, a list and a book. "This scroll may seem small but it really isn't. Just release your chakra and it'll grow to it's original size. It makes traveling a lot easier! Anyways, In this scroll there is a list of herbs in alphabetical order. I want you to take the herbs and store them in here. Make sure their in the proper place. Here's the list of herbs, if you don't know what it is, look in the book."
Sakura scanned the like. Her hands were trembling and her eyes went wide. "S-Shishou! There's at least 30 or more herbs on this list! You're expecting me to collect a hundred for each?!" Tsunade grinned sheepishly. "Good luck!"
Sakura huffed out of frustration. "I better get a raise from this mission! The pay better be good!" She inwardly signed. 'This mission is going to take longer than I thought.'
With that said, she hugged everyone, thanked them and made her way out the gates. She waved at them and bid them a farewell. They all waved back and shouted 'good luck', 'be safe' and 'come home, soon.' A single tear fell down her cheek. 'I have such great friends. Thank you, everyone.'
She jump into the forest, beginning her journey. Making her way towards her first destination: The Tea Country.
Woo-Hoo! New story! I have so many ideas for this story! I'm super excited! LOL, anyways... Tell me what you think about it! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Haha, hope you guys like the story so far. See ya!